Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House access to local public health services for residents of the Bundaberg area. The current Bundaberg Hospital of the Wide Bay Health and Hospital Service is a 158 bed acute health care facility servicing the North Burnett region. The hospital provides Clinical Services Capability Framework (CSCF) Level 4 health services, including emergency care, general medicine and surgery, allied and community health, mental health and oral health.

The people of Bundaberg will have an increasing demand for comprehensive health services. Bundaberg is among the fastest growing regional cities in Australia. The estimated population was 94,640 persons in 2016 with a projected growth to 117,865 persons over the next twenty years. Prevalence of chronic disease is among the highest in Australia with the median age 42 years, older than the median age for Queensland (37 years) and Australia (38 years). Many people require diagnostics and treatment unavailable in the public system in Bundaberg. They must then travel to Brisbane or other regional facilities. This creates a substantial drain on the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme which is estimated to have incurred $81 million expenditure in 2016-17. A CSCF Level 5 Bundaberg Hospital would enable moderate to high complex inpatient and ambulatory care services to meet the growing demand for health services in the region.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to place construction of a CSCF Level 5 Regional Hospital in Bundaberg on the Queensland Health Forward Infrastructure Plan.